The Masses, pl. n. A gigantic, perfectly secret society to which no one has yet admitted belonging.
Apr 242017
Lying
To a quite unwreckable Lie,
To a most impeccable Lie!
To a water-tight, fire-proof, angle-iron, sunk-hinge, time-lock, steel-faced Lie!
Not a private hansom Lie,
But a pair-and-brougham Lie,
Not a little-place-at-Tooting, but a country-house-with-shooting
And a ring-fence-deer-park Lie.
—-Kipling
Apr 142017
If you want realism, you have to make a few things up.
Apr 112017
Men first lie and cheat for sport, then for trinkets, and finally for great ends, having formed the habit.
Jan 272017
We are told that the enemy is privilege; in fact it is distinction.
Jan 172017
We generally adopt a new opinion by persuading ourselves that we have always held it.
Dec 222016
To imagine oneself facing an unpleasant truth — few sensations are as pleasant.
Nov 252016
That we would have been above the absurd beliefs and barbaric practices of other times — this absurd belief abets our barbaric practices.
Nov 082016
The most exquisite pleasure of a vice is the periodic heartfelt resolution to give it up.
Sep 232016
You never violate your principles: you only discover that they are not what you thought they were.
Aug 022016
Liars love to be lied to: indeed they insist on it.